239 comments:

Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.

Sometimes I feel like such a dumb ox. Prior to this week, I didn't know the difference between lager and ale. Apparently, it has something to do with top and bottom fermentation. Isn't that charming?! Guinness is best known for stout, but also makes some other varieties of ale, I guess. Stout seems to be a dark ale, but I'm not putting any money on that. I wouldn't know where to find a definitive answer, and I wouldn't want to get involved in a brouhaha, or, worse, a donnybrook, unless I can profit from it. Now, if it were a question involving quantifiable things, like largest audience ever, or something obscure like fastest game bird, there's a reference book for that, the Genius (sic) Book of World Records that's been a standby for me since that smart-aleck classmate introduced me to it in junior high. I'd just look it up and leave the loser to grouse about it. Or plover about it - whatever.

I refrained from dragging Sigmund Romberg into the discussion, but I appreciated ron's mention of Dolly Parton; I think it's safe to say she'll always love Porter.

I have two answers that I _think_ involve brands that are _not_ well known. One is a brand from long ago, no longer current, and one is a brand that is current but not well known. Maybe it is just not well known to _me_! I never buy products in this category.

She did not say that. She said "ABOUT 300 correct responses." And today she said "OVER 500." Over means more than; while about seems (obviously) to mean fewer than. I expect you will argue this. Knock yourself out.

I found the right answer, but, like so many of these puzzles, I take issue with it. The product in question is similar to the product formed by taking the last letter off the first name, but it's not quite the same product. It does serve the same purpose, though.

Technically, yes, this company does produce the product as stated. The company is well-known for the similar - but not the same - product. Perhaps the puzzle is correct in certain markets where the puzzle-related product gets distributed. In my home state - and, I suspect, in most states - only the one product shows up in stores, but not the product referenced in the puzzle.

Curtis, I know what you are saying, but it is not correct. The product you are thinking of is as stated in the puzzle. I will post more about this come Thursday next. In the meantime I suggest you might Google it a bit.

It pains me immensely, eco, to be so painful to you with my postings. I wish you had not caused me so much pain in my feeling your pain. Perhaps we should consider the musings of Thomas Paine, who said, “The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.”

SDB, I have actually scoured the company website, and they don't describe their flagship product with the term in question. Other websites - not associated with the company - do refer to that product as falling into the category of the puzzle.

I am not a big fan of list puzzles, but since I solved this one before getting out of bed, and he is one of my favorite actors, I like this one.

I suspect I am the only one here who knows for sure which film the actor is most proud of. I doubt you can research this on the internet. I am almost as certain of this as I am that I am the only one here who watched a movie about a convent of pregnant nuns last night. (No, it was not a comedy.)

This actor shares a certain distinction with a couple of well-known musicians. Did anyone miss my last post at the end of the previous blog? I hate to force these on you again, but here goes:TV clue #1: Jimmy Fallon on SNLTV clue #2: The Simpsons

This puzzle makes me feel like a panelist on WHAT'S MY LINE? ("Sunday Puzzle Answer, are you best-known for your work on the screen, as opposed to the stage or television?") Because I work in an office with millennials, I'm no longer sure who is considered famous. (No joke -- when Mary Tyler Moore died, half of my coworkers had no idea who she was.) I did come up with an answer, but I'm not sure that it's THE answer. Some of the posts here indicate that it is, while others lead me to think that it isn't.

Thanks to their hairdresser The Beatles departed. DANG, you beat me to it.After the oil spill the coast was demurred.It would take a lot of counseling to demean Trump.The rude diner was appropriately deserved.

To repeat, Venus de Milo was disarmed.I am disinclined to go up that ramp.The minor at the bar was discardedThe dead maestro was decomposing and denoted.Maybe we can dismember the NRA?Kris Kobach has devoted minorities.Stormy Daniels said the President was debriefed.

The broken appliance suffered from discord.The theory was deposited.Is it right to decry a baby?The mummy was decrypted.The bride was dismissed.Rosa Parks derided Montgomery busses.The fraudulent land sale distracted many investors.

I failed to mention above that news of the maestro's death was disconcertingA landslide might disgorge a ravine.Poor Regan, the child in "The Exorcist", was dispossessed.Lady Spencer was dispelled.The stingy nobleman was discounted.No longer worshiped, the pagan god was distributed.No longer mighty, Sampson was distressed.The clothes presser's business is decreasing.

I have been there in January under a full moon. Magical to have the place to ourselves (and the cold is not too bad in Jan-Feb due to the high chaparral environment; springtime gets too busy with spring breaks.)

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

With no response from anyone, including sdb, I have to assume that I was mistaken about his posting a too revealing clue.He must have included the name of one of the actor's movies without realizing it.

Is the little bubble popping noise from Wall Street today going to get louder after the Speech?

Eco: That's a pretty good picture, especially for not having a tripod!!I was very surprised at how much coverage there was by this eclipse. The way everyone talked, I figured maybe 50-70%.Anyway, good picture!!

My posts keep vanishing!!!!Eco: Those are great pictures. I think the full eclipse one is very good, especially without a tripod! I've got a Canon SX50, that I still have not completely figured out. The lens says it goes up to 1200 in one place, but the face of it says 215mm. It also says it's a 50x zoom. So, I'm not sure what it is. I still am not satisfied with it's manual exposure mode. It just won't focus that one extra bit for astronomical shots, especially for times like this.

You might have been looking at 68Charger's photo, since you asked before I uploaded anything. I'm guessing his was in Kansas, maybe with less light pollution. Mine were at the Berkeley Marina, too many lights, and too short of a lens.

People said Lawrence Hall and Chabot were packed and hard to get into. But that's a good thing.

Eco: I was referring to your pictures. Looked good to me. But 68s was amazing. Thank you for the information about Chabot. Glad I did not go there. It is so close to me and I felt guilty not going. Btw, do you might giving me that person's name again regarding the deck construction? I have to get it fixed asap. I lost the info you gave me. So sorry. It is ok if you do not have time. Merci.

Eco: Darn, I was hoping conditions would have been more favorable! Here's another one that I took. I was lucky that I went to check early, because the schedule that one of our local TV stations posted, was off by about a half an hour. I was surprised that the eclipse for the Kansas City area was as big as it was. I bet it was over 90 percent coverage before it sank below the clouds.

If your ability to predict is like mine, don't count out total solar eclipses yet. When I was young I was certain of two things: Pete Rose would be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the United States would always be the most powerful country.

My comment that the actor, in one of his most famous roles, and the product are cloaked in darkness referred Obi Wan Kenobe’s dark robes and Guinness Stout being a dark ale. Similarly, my reference to an Ella Fitzgerald classic referred to her recording of, Cry Me a River, and was a play on the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness.

“I suspect I am the only one here who knows for sure which film the actor is most proud of.” Tunes Of Glory is his favorite movie.

“But is he smart?” As a smart alec.

“I guess that's right from the horse's mouth, if you'll pardon the expression.” The Horse’s Mouth is one of his best films.

Beers fall under two categories: Ale & Lager.Ales are top, warm fermented. Lagers are bottom, cold fermented. Stout is in the Ale category. Guinness Stout is not a lager, but is ale. The puzzle is completely correct as stated, although too easy to solve.

Click on this link for a comprehensive explanation: It may require you to click on the first line, not the lower line to open.

What is the difference between a lager and an ale? | Popular Sciencehttps://www.popsci.com/ science/...01/beersci-what- difference-between-lager-and- ale

"Blancmange" refers to isinglass, the collagen procured from fish bladder used in some beer and in the French dessert, aka "white or sick pudding." In 2016, GUINNESS stopped using isinglass to brew beer to make it appealing to vegans.

"Paul, you'd have to be intelligent to get it that quickly." >>> You'd have to be a smart ALEC.

My more likely answer was ALEC BALDWIN, as I found that Baldwin is a company that manufactures ale, but I don't know how well-known the brand is; it was unknown to me. Of course the better answer is with that other Alec; I like his films and why that lightbulb didn't go off for me I do not know. The other brand I found was also unknown; there was a car manufacturer Grant early in the last century, which would be derived from CARY GRANT.

Last Sunday I said, “It takes someone special to be a brand.” Alec Guinness portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. The second answer I mentioned is Alec Baldwin. Baldwin is a brand of India Pale Ale. See https://untappd.com/b/microbrasserie-coaticook-baldwin-india-pale-ale/495304.